The present invention pertains to dispensing and storage devices for empty pallets.
The handling of empty pallets has been largely a matter of manual labor in warehouses where empty pallets are stored in stacks and then distributed on a single or small number basis. In that situation, the worker needing a pallet must remove the pallet from the stack, and if using a pallet truck, the worker must deposit it on the floor to pick it up on the forks of the truck. Therefore, a worker with a riding pallet truck must dismount the truck, pull a pallet from the pallet stack and place it on the floor, remount the truck and collect the pallet. Of course, the pallets must not be stacked higher than the worker can safely reach. Previous attempts of pallet handling have been directed to the dispensing of pallets to a conveyor operation or to the loading of pallets. Some devices dispense individual pallets from a stack with star wheels, pawls, spoke wheels, or forks, as control devices. Each of these dispensing mechanisms requires heavy duty specially machined parts, precision control of dispensing rotation, as well as a properly aligned stack of pallets. The alignment of the stack typically presents a problem because pallets are not precision manufactured parts, they are handled roughly in day-to-day use, and are made of serviceable, if not polished, materials. In order to be properly dispensed, the alignment of the stack must be obtained. Alignment and dispensing of pallets frequently has required the use of complicated and expensive machinery requiring carefully and frequent calibration and maintenance. Frequently automation is involved with such machinery, thus adding to the expense, complexity and skill needed to operate and maintain the machine.